Cool Idea of the Day: Send a Book to Congress

A group of concerned citizens in Seattle recently approached Kim Hooyboer, manager of Third Place Books, Seward Park, with the idea of sending a copy of Timothy Snyder's book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (Tim Duggan Books) to every member of Congress. Seattle magazine reported that the "response from Hooyboer and her bosses was enthusiastic. Third Place Books offered the group, who asked to remain anonymous to emphasize the community effort, a significant discount on more than half the books needed, plus space to write personalized letters and stuff envelopes." A friend of the group who lives in Vermont connected them with Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury, which is contributing the other half of the books.

"How we can be active resistance hubs: I've been talking about this with a lot of other bookstores around the country in the last year," said Hooyboer. "Our role as booksellers is to bring the right books to the right people at the right time. To be principled, not partisan. That's why it makes so much sense for this group to come to us and for us to help in whatever way we can.... I think it's really easy right now to want to close the doors, turn the lights off, and sit in a corner, but one of the important things we can be doing right now is educating ourselves and reading these books and having these conversations with your community."